PHILADELPHIA — With each in-season checkpoint they cross, the Phillies find themselves answering the same questions. The All-Star break, which they collided into Sunday with a 10-3 loss to the Washington Nationals, was their latest.

It might have been their last, at least in their current form.

After a five-game winning streak that had pulled them to within eight games of the lead in the NL East Friday, the Phils entered the break on a two-game slide, 11 games under .500, 10 games behind Washington and Atlanta in the division. That pushed them ever closer to a franchise-remake, with their front office having nearly a full game-free week to begin the cleanup.

“I don’t think that’s what we set out for during spring training,” said Chase Utley before leaving for Minnesota and Tuesday’s All-Star Game. “At this point, all we can try to do is to continue to get better. And that’s the name of the game.”

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They were trending that way after sweeping the Brewers in Milwaukee and winning the first game of the Washington series. But after losing in extra innings Saturday, they were overwhelmed Sunday by right-hander Tanner Roark, who struck out six and walked none in seven innings to improve to 8-6.

The Phils’ offensive punch, soft as it was, came from Cody Asche, who twice doubled and provided an RBI. But another typical slow start from Kyle Kendrick put the Phillies behind, 3-0, within the first three batters, complicating their chore if not adding a dose of demoralization.

Denard Span and Anthony Rendon each singled to begin the game before Jayson Werth planted his 12th homer of the season into the left-field seats. As he will, Kendrick settled and at one point retired 14 straight. By then, though, his first-inning ERA had grown to 11.37. He would last 52/3 innings, allowing five earned runs and throwing two wild pitches.

“Today, it was some not-so-quality pitches, I guess,” said Kendrick, whose record sagged to 4-9. “Span hit an 0-2 changeup and found a hole. Rendon hit a cutter, and Jayson hung a curveball.”

Kendrick denied that the first-inning problems were beginning to become mental.

“Not at all,” he said. “Today I felt great. I just made some bad pitches in the first inning, and that’s what it boiled down to.”

While Kendrick gave his offense an early burden, the hitters did not immediately ease his task, either, failing on their first eight opportunities with runners in scoring position. They wasted a mini-rally in the sixth, when Grady Sizemore and Jimmy Rollins singled, settling only for Ryan Howard’s 56th RBI on a mild groundout to first. Asche’s second double plated Cesar Hernandez, and Howard scored on a Cameron Rupp groundout in the ninth, but only after the Nats had rolled to a 10-1 lead.

“We couldn’t string anything together, no real rallies,” Asche said. “It was a tough one. I think we swung at good pitches for the most part. We just weren’t finding open space.”

Rendon created a run in the sixth, leading off with a single, bumping to second when Werth was hit by a pitch, then taking third and home on sacrifice fly balls to right, Ryan Zimmerman earning the RBI and chasing Kendrick. No better, Mario Hollands surrendered a single to Bryce Harper, a two-run double to deep center by Ian Desmond and a Jose Lobaton RBI single to left, the Nationals increasing their lead to 7-0. Rendon and Werth added ninth-inning RBIs against Justin De Fratus as the crowd of 30,185 scattered.

The players could be scattering next.

“I’ve had a glimmer of hope with our stretches as of late,” Ryne Sandberg said. “Cliff Lee and Chooch (Carlos Ruiz) will be coming back. We will be getting everyone together and seeing what we could do at full strength. That’s where my head is at going into the second part of the season.”

That’s his vision, anyway. But by the time the Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park July 21 to try a healthy Lee against the San Francisco Giants, who knows what their roster could look like?

“We will see,” Kendrick said. “We have to worry about ourselves and go from there.”